Canada’s top soldier suspected the Conservative government was behind a plot to damage his reputation when reports emerged last fall that he had used a Challenger jet to join his family on a Caribbean cruise.

OTTAWA—Canada’s top soldier suspected the Conservative government was behind a plot to damage his reputation when reports emerged last fall that he had used a Challenger jet to join his family on a Caribbean cruise, the Toronto Star has learned.

Gen. Walter Natynczyk, the chief of defence staff, aired his suspicion after learning a journalist got hold of flight logs that showed him using the military jet to attend sports events, the Calgary Stampede and to catch up to a family trip to the island of Saint Maarten in January 2010. He had missed his scheduled departure in order to attend a repatriation ceremony for four soldiers and a journalist killed in Afghanistan.

“Whenever (blank) is involved in a story I tend to suspect a certain source, placed high in Government,” Natynczyk wrote to his chief media adviser on the afternoon of Sept. 15, 2011.

That evening, CTV reporter Robert Fife broadcast his report, inciting a parliamentary fury over the use of government aircraft.

Natynczyk’s adviser, Lt.-Col. Norbert Cyr, wrote minutes after viewing the report that night that it was “a hatchet job” that inflated the Challenger’s true costs to between $10,000 and $12,000 when the military pegged the flight as costing just $2,630.

“This was well-orchestrated,” he wrote to his boss.

Natynczyk was presented with three options for the trip when he decided to attend the ceremony for the Canadian casualties, thereby missing part of the pre-arranged trip with his wife and one of his children, the records show.

The first option was to leave on the trip and fly back on the government jet to meet the bodies. But that didn’t make sense because he wouldn’t have enough time to even board the ship before having to leave. The third option was to abandon his vacation.

The second option — to take the government jet down to the island was considered “viable and recommended” because there were no seats on a commercial airline and little flexibility to the plan if the repatriation was delayed.

Natynczyk is a 37-year veteran of the Canadian Forces who has notably shunned the political spotlight since Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed him to the post in June 2008.

Still, the documents that the Star obtained under the Access to Information Act show an officer well aware of the dark political arts that can be employed on Parliament Hill.

They also illustrate how slighted the general and his team felt when the Prime Minister’s Office failed to back him up and Defence Minister Peter MacKay, who gave his blessing to the flight from Ottawa to the Caribbean, kept silent.

“Not a peep from (Minister of National Defence) on this issue,” Cyr wrote on Sept. 17 as officials plotted a response through the weekend.

He also noted that unspecified comments made by a spokesman for the Prime Minister were “less than helpful.”

Harper responded to the news report by saying he expected all government officials to pay back the commercial costs of the flight when using government aircraft for personal matters.

After the revelations about Natynczyk’s flight activity, his office was bombarded with media requests, turned down an appearance on the satirical CBC show This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and began working on a written defence his officials hoped to publish in the opinion pages of a newspaper (it does not appear to have ever been published).

By Sept. 18, 2011, Natynczyk’s team was taking stock of their efforts and preparing for another week in the political spotlight.

“Candid evaluation: are we decreasing the stickiness of the story?” asked Col. Jeff Tasseron, an adviser.

“My humble assessment at this stage: not yet to the degree I believe we would like to see,” replied Lt.-Cmdr. Kris Phillips, Natynczyk’s chief spokesman.

“Actually, the fight has just started and we are breaking through the ambush,” added Cyr, a veteran of Ottawa’s political-military fulcrum.

Natynczyk met with Harper on Sept. 19 and insisted he had followed the rules at all times. But he said he would repay the government if his Challenger flight was determined to be an improper use of the government jet.

But the allegations against Natynczyk were overshadowed later that week when it was revealed that MacKay, as defence minister, had ordered a Cormorant search-and-rescue helicopter to pick him up at a private fishing lodge in Newfoundland in July 2010 to attend to a government announcement in Ontario.

Reports since then have cast doubt on his explanation that he was taking part in a demonstration exercise.

The Challenger controversy did result in some concrete changes designed to discourage the use of government jets.

In the days after the first report about Natynczyk emerged, orders went out that all officials should opt for commercial flights before booking the government jets.

“Effective immediately, military aircraft are to be used by exception only for such trips,” wrote Tasseron, the general’s special adviser, on Sept. 19, 2011.

Tasseron also ordered a review of upcoming CDS trips “to see where recent events may cause the CDS to be exposed to unwanted and unwarranted scrutiny, along with the regs surrounding spousal travel, with the aim of putting together a list of trips for his personal review and if necessary reconsideration.”

On the same day, the MacKay’s office ordered all those requesting the use of military aircraft to first show “how commercial flights have been identified AND rationale as to why commercial flights cannot be taken.”

More on thestar.com

We value respectful and thoughtful discussion. Readers are encouraged to flag comments that fail to meet the standards outlined in our
Community Code of Conduct.
For further information, including our legal guidelines, please see our full website
Terms and Conditions.